Gunin Borah
(The writer is a faculty of Geography in Biswanath College, Chariali. He can be reached at borah.gunin@gmail.com)
The ethnic tribes of Assam are often recognized as the first inhabitants of the land, who belong to various tribal groups. The tribes unite to form the colourful tribes of Assam. Mising belongs to a greater group of Tani people, who speaks the language of the Sino-Tibetan family, which comprises many tribes in Arunachal Pradesh and Tibet. All these Tani tribes Share linguistic, cultural and ritual similarities. The Mising tribes represent the second largest ethnic and linguistic group of Assam. The Misings are an ethnic group inhabiting the districts of Dhemaji, North Lakhimpur, Sonitpur, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Sivasagar, Jorhat, and Golaghat district of Assam. Some of these tribes live in and around Pachighat of the East Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh. After the Bodos in Assam, they are the largest ethnic tribes in North East India.
The Misings belongs to a mixture of East Asian as well as South Asian sub-race of the Mongoloid race similar to a mixture of the Mongoloid sub-race of the people from Southern China. They now belong to a Tibeto-Burman family of the Mongoloid group. It is not known exactly where they migrated from, but it is popularly believed that they were dwellers of the hills of present-day Arunachal Pradesh. This explains the culture and linguistic similarities they have with many Tani tribes in Arunachal Pradesh. Other Tani tribes are Adi, Apatani, Nyishi, Padam and others in Arunachal Pradesh. There was a battle fought among various Tani groups for land and property. Some of the Mising people descended down to plains in Assam in order to make a peaceful settlement. They are migrated to the plains of Assam prior to the advent of Ahoms, around the 13th century and settled in the riverside area of the Brahmaputra and Subansiri. The river Brahmaputra is a source of various flora and fauna that attracted them, for their livelihood.
The Misings being the riverside people, have special linking to on the riverbanks despite the fact that they have to face the flood of the river during the Monsoon. Sometimes, flood forces them to shift their villages. Misings are still maintaining the joint family system. Agriculture is their principal livelihood, but it is still at the subsistence level. As per the 2011 census, 98.2 per cent of Mising people live in rural areas of Assam.
According to the census of India, conducted in 2011, the Mising people in Assam were 6,87, 310 of which 3,95,790 were males and 2,67,520 females. Recently survey done by Mising organization shows the Mising population as more than 1 million and approximately 12,50,000 in the state. The Misings residing in Arunachal Pradesh are estimated to be more than 50,000. The literacy rate of the Mising tribe is quite high. It is more than 78 per cent among the males and 59 per cent among the women, averaging to be 68.8 per cent, which is higher than that of Assam as well as India.
As per the 2011 census, the Misings constitute 17.8 per cent of the tribal population of Assam.
The Misings currently enjoys constitutional autonomy under the Mising Autonomous Council Act of 1995 passed by the Assam Legislative Assembly and assented to by the Governor of Assam, following violent clashes in the early 1990s for greater autonomy. The Mising Autonomous Council includes 40 constituencies in eight Upper Assam districts. Executive Council (EC) from 36 constituencies are elected democratically, while 40 other members are represented by the ruling Government of Assam. The Mising Autonomous Council comprises more than 60 per cent Mising population and other communities that are a minority. In Assam, Dhemaji and North Lakhimpur districts have the largest Mising population, followed by the Majuli district.
Mising people celebrate various community festivals, though the two chief traditional festivals of the Mising are the Ali-Aye-Leegang and the Pohrag, both connected with their agriculture cycle. Their chief festival is Ali-Aye-Leegang. Ali means roots and shoots, Aye means fruit and Leegang means beginning. Thus the word means the beginning of sowing seeds. It is celebrated on the first Wednesday of Fagun month (Assamese Calendar), this date falls in February month of the English Calendar. The festival makes the beginning of the sowing season. On the day of celebrating the festival 'Ali-Aye-Leegang', sowing paddy is started. People wear traditional clothes on the day of celebrating the festival. All people gather in the festival dance by stepping, flinging, flapping of hands, and swaging of hips reflecting youthful passion. Food items like 'Poro Apong' (Rice bear), 'Nogin Apong' (Black beer), pork, and dry fish are essential for the feast in the festival. The festival continues for five days. The people in this community are mainly agrarian. So the festival of Ali-Aye-Leegang makes the beginning of the New Agricultural Calendar. They also observe the Bihu festival during mid-April. Mising tribes follow complete rituals right from the birth of an individual to death. Phrag and Dobur are the other two major festivals observed by Misings.
Mising is animist by nature. But like any other Tanti tribes, they believe the Sun (Donyi) as their mother and the Moon (Polo) as their father. Recently, this belief has been organized as Doni Polo Yelam, literally meaning Donyi Polo religion. Many Misings have converted to Dony-Polo Yelam recently. But most of the Mising follow Hinduism along with their age-old religious rituals. There are a few Christians, who follow the Catholic, Baptist faith among the Mising community.
Agriculture is the lifeblood of the economy of Mising. They grow different varieties of rice paddy they also grow mustard, pulses, maize, vegetables, tobacco, bamboo, sugarcane etc., chiefly for their own use. Today, a small percentage of the Mising population have different categories of jobs, especially in the public sector, small trading etc. as a source of income.